[Marc]
The Wood Whisperer is sponsored
by Powermatic and Titebond.
Well things look a little weird right now
because em and probably sound weird.
Because I’m down in my basement at
ahh the entrance to my home theatre.
I’m kinda a home theatre nerd
and we have this little out cove here that was
really specifically built
to house a back lite poster.
This was something
the previous owner had built
and it's actually switched controlled
(clicking) so when the
previous one that was there
just kinda went bad.
It was ahh, old florescent tubes inside there.
I decided to build a replacement with L.E.D’s
and something that I can fit standard size
posters in and that’s what we have here.
so it’s a very quick build
Ahh, I’m gonna build it they way I think it should
be built. But don’t forget
there’s always multiple techniques
for how you can get these things done.
Um, you can do this fairly inexpensively
and using pocket screws to make a simple frame
like this.
Uh, but it's all about the L.E.D back lights
and how you get all that stuff to work so
lets head up to the shop and start building it.
[Marc] Lets start with the four frame parts.
[Marc] I’ll be using cherry for this project
all the parts are milled to size based on the cut list.
[Marc] Which you can download for free on our website.
The measurements are based on a standard 27x40
movie poster size.
[Marc] You can obviously resize the parts as needed
if you want to accommodate something smaller like 24x36.
(working sounds)
[Marc]
the frame pieces are connected with reinforced rabbits
[Marc] So i'll cut them on the ends of the long
side pieces
using a dato stack and a miter gauge.
(working sounds)
[Marc] with the regular blade back in I’ll cut
the groove for the plexiglass.
[Marc] I know exactly where I want that
groove to start
so I set my fence to that distance.
[Marc]And make the cut on all the frame pieces
including a test piece of plywood.
(working sounds)
[Marc] Now the groove needs to be wider
than the blades eighth inch curf.
[Marc] So I bump the fence over little by little
and use a test piece to confirm the fit on the
plexiglass.
[Marc] The poster will live in between two layers
of plexiglass.
[Marc] So with the creepy baby head in there
I’m looking for a fit thats a little bit loose.
[Marc] Since the plexiglass needs to be able to slide.
[Marc] With that setting dialed in I can make the
second cut on all of my frame pieces.
(working sounds)
[Marc] I’ll use the same process
to make the back panel groove.
[Marc] My back panel is set in from the
back of the frame far enough to allow me to plug in
the L.E.D light strip that I’m using.
[Marc] You can move the back panel to suit your needs.
(working sounds)
[Marc] Just like plexiglass you want the
back panel to be able to slide into the groove easily.
(Light sounds)
[Marc] On one side of the frame
the side piece will be removable.
[Marc] So I’m gonna install some threaded inserts
in the top and bottom pieces.
[Marc] The hole is drilled slightly undersized for
the insert.
[Marc] And when drilling you wanna be straight and
true as possible.
[Marc] Probably should of used my drill press for this
but uhh, (funny mumble sounds)
[Marc] To make sure the insert doesn’t move
I’ll line the hole with some epoxy
in then slowly drive the insert into place.
[Marc] Make sure it sits just below the surface.
(silence)
[Marc] Using the same drill locations i'll mark the top
and bottom of the removable side piece.
[Marc] And drill holes that are just larger
than the bolts I plan to use
and now we can test it out.
[Marc] If those aren’t perfectly straight
this (laughter) is when your gonna find out.
[Marc] Now mine aren’t perfect but
I keep the camera far enough away
and I pick just the right angle so you’ll never know.
(silence)
[Marc] The other side of the frame gets a
permanent connection.
[Marc] I’ll glue and clamp the joint closed.
[Marc] Rigid clamping squares are super helpful
for a glue up like this.
(tapping)
[Marc] Once the glue is set up I’ll
reinforce the joints using screws.
[Marc] You could also use dowels here
if your in a rush
you can for go the clamps
and just use the screws from the get go.
[Marc] Just make sure the pieces stay nice and square.
[Marc] To tap off the screws I’ll cut
some walnut dowel stock into little nubs.
(working sounds)
[Marc] After the glue dries
I can use a fresh trim saw to cut them off.
The back panel and the plexiglass are the size so i'll
cut the plywood first.
(working sounds)
[Marc] Both sheets of plexiglass
are cut at the same time
using a plastic cutting blade on my track saw.
(working sounds)
[Marc] By the way plexiglass is ridiculously expensive
(WTF)
(working sounds)
[Marc] Remember we want a some what loose fit
here. So make sure both the plywood and the plexiglass
sandwich slide into the grooves easily.
(silence)
[Marc]Now because the lights are so close to the poster
there’s
a good chance we're gonna have some hot spots of light.
[Marc] To minimize that I’m sanding
back piece of plexiglass on both faces
with 80 grit.
[Marc] This should help
to scatter the light and act like a diffuser
it actually makes a pretty big difference.
(country band in background)
[Marc] On the inside of the frame
I’m gonna put a pretty heavy chamfer
on the inside edge of both grooves
this should help the plywood and plexiglass panels
to find their home home
when doing that final installation.
[Marc] Probably should have done this before the glue up
but yello.
[Marc] I’ll give the frame a nice sanding
and add a decorative chamfer to the visible edges.
[Marc] I have noticed that I’m kinda on a chamfer kick
down with round overs am I right?
(working sounds)
[Marc] Now lets cut the stock for the french cleat.
[Marc] Will need two pieces cut with a 45 degree bevel.
(working sounds)
[Marc] To glue one of the pieces to the top
back of the frame will clamp them flat with two calls.
[Marc] We can then apply glue and clamps
to secure it to the top of the frame.
[Marc] Once the glue dries the bottom part will be
removed and later attached to the wall
for the final installation.
[Marc] Now we can apply some finish
hard wax oil is my weapon of choice.
[Marc] while the finish dries I’ll work
on the back panel.
[Marc] I need one hole near the top of the L.E.D for
for the wire to pass through.
[Marc] To help increase the intensity of light
i'll apply aluminum tape
to the entire back panel.
[Marc] And use a wooden roller to smooth it all out.
[Marc] The tape not only reflects light
but it gives the adhesive back light strips
something nice and smooth to grip onto.
[Marc] The light strip doesn’t need to look pretty but
the more even you can lay it out
the more even the light will be.
[Marc] These light strips are pretty cool
every few inches theres a
little copper spot
where you can actually slice it
and cut it to length.
[Marc] Thankfully
I didn’t have much waste just a
couple of inches to spare.
[Marc] Now lets assemble,
heres where that chamfer in the groove really helps
with out it the plexiglass sandwich
might just hit the surface
and refuse to pop down into the groove.
[Marc] But the chamfer prevents that from happening.
(drill sounds)
[Marc] Time for a test run
yeahh baby!
[Marc] By the way I bought this double sided poster
years ago
and I’m just now getting around to this project so
my poster choice is a little bit dated.
[Marc] With the cleat on the wall
we can plug in the lights and hang the frame.
[Marc] The moment of truth
Ahh, I was gonna say dude that took to long (laughter)
[Marc] Alright so everything is working
thankfully.
[Marc] Ahh, the one thing I do want to mention is ahh
safety tip here
if you are going to keep something like this on all the
time. L.E.D’s can actually build up heat
so you wanna be careful with that.
[Marc] you may
include some sort of ventilation
in there. Um maybe holes
or grooves on the top and the bottom
[Marc] Something to allow
the air to get through keep in mind though
that also lets light through.
[Marc] Which might ruin the effect
you know use that carefully but
here I’m not really keeping
this thing on very long. You know how I use this I
bring someone down to the basement and I go hey check
this out.
[Marc] And then I turn it off so (laughter)
it’s not something that I’m gonna keep on for more
then just a few minutes at at time
i’m not too worried about heat build up.
[Marc] Alright thanks for watching everybody hopefully
(music playing) you have a reason to build a back lite
poster like this I think It’s really cool. (music)
Ahh, but thanks for watching will catch
you next time.